Comics this week

Back up to over twenty new releases this week which means choosing five for pre-game is a little less ambitious. I'm not recommending half of the books on a given release week, I'm just recommending a quarter or something. Frankly, that's still pretty high, I suppose? Oh well, let's just do it anyway, hm?

Avengers Assemble 17
We've entered into the homestretch of the Enemy Within event as this month will see both this issue and the conclusion a little later on in Captain Marvel 14. Things are heating up as the Kree have, in no uncertain terms, declined to get involved in Yon-Rogg's fight which is a positive in that an army of aliens isn't coming but a negative in that it's made Yon-Rogg more desperate than ever. How he's anticipating to relieve that tension will no doubt start to come to a head here as he continues his assault on everything Carol cares about. On the flip side, Carol has apparently figured out who is beyond all of these attacks and is as mad as she's ever been. Mad can be a good thing for Carol, who lives her life on adrenaline, but it can also make her act impulsively, which she can't afford right now as her flight powers put her at huge risk. Very interesting corner DeConnick's put her in and it'll be exciting to watch how she reacts.

Iron Man 13
Now that Kieron Gillen has recast Tony Stark's entire life and his role in the Marvel Universe, he's ready to give us the next story to tell why it's important enough to find out now. What does 451 have planned for him? What is 451 trying to start/stop? Will Tony play ball? Will he have the ability not to? How much can we trust 451? That's the question at the root of everything. Has 451 worked things to his liking for, as he claims, mostly altruistic ends or is there something even more sinister underneath that we're not privy to yet? These questions, especially the ones about 451, can drive any story that Gillen wants to tell, which puts us in a really nice place going into this one.

Superior Carnage 1
Carnage has gotten a bit of play in recent years, from two specific series he starred in, Carnage and Carnage USA, and a crossover event that ran between Venom and Scarlet Spider most recently. I thought that Carnage and Carnage USA were particularly interesting stories while the Venom/Scarlet Spider one got a little too convoluted. That said, he's certainly an interesting character and it certainly seems like this will pit Doc Ock's new version of Spider-Man (which some may call superior) against the rogue symbiote for the first time. Carnage is an especially frightening villain for Peter, as he's someone without any sort of motive to trace and who has difficult powers to counter and a bloodlust, so it'll be very interesting to see how Doc Ock with his cold, removed demeanor views and handles Carnage. It should add nice layers to both characters.

Thor: God of Thunder 10
The last issue ended with the three Thors failing to defeat Gorr and crashing back down to (an) earth with their hammers strewn about them. Smart money says they're not dead but are they defeated? Gorr has been an impressive enemy for any one of them to fight and after he turned the tables on them last time, it's hard to see how this endgame plays out. That said, we're getting awfully close to the conclusion of Godbomb and Gorr seems ready to detonate. That gives us a nice starting point for this issue which can go a few ways in basic tone and any number of ways in plot and character. Should be fun.

Uncanny X-Force 7
When will I stop putting this on my pre-game list? When it stops leading me to believe we're going to get a lot of Fantomex in the issue. In a way, the division of Fantomex's three brains into three full people has been a bit of a let-down, in that the three brains battling within one body was a great idea that was fleshed out nicely throughout Remender's X-Force. In addition, the one who is so far least complicated seems to be the original Fantomex, which is a bit of a bummer. Still, this issue should give us a good look into what exactly has been happening with the Fantomexes and particularly what's been going on (and what is still going on) with Weapon XIII, the mutant-hunting product of the Weapon Plus program (who was, sadly, also the one who got the misdirect powers, which are awesome). This may not be on everyone's pull list but anyone who is a fan of Fantomex will surely be keeping an eye on it.